£1.4m school improvements unveiled

Students are returning to new and improved facilities at Rossett School after a £1.4m investment over the summer break.

Thanks to grant funding from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), the Harrogate school has a brand new Learning Resource Centre (LRC) at the heart of its site.

Investment has also been made in the buildings, including creating new classrooms, replacing doors and windows, rewiring, and redeveloping the PE facilities and the community facility, Rossett Sports’ Centre

It brings the total investment at Rossett School over the last four years to almost £5 million.

Headteacher Helen Woodcock said: “Once again, we’ve spent the summer making improvements ready for students to return for the new academic year.

“The most noticeable difference is the new LRC, which has state-of-the-art facilities including an IT suite, iPad stands and much more – as well as plenty of books, of course. It’s bright, inviting and a great place for independent learning.

“While changes such as rewiring and replacing doors are perhaps less glamorous, they make a huge difference in the day-to-day life of the school. They help in making it a pleasant and practical environment for students and staff to work.”

The summer has also seen new facilities introduced at Rossett Sports Centre, adjacent to the school and used both for lessons and as a community sports’ facility.

Two new multi-use games area (MUGA) pitches are set to open in the autumn term for both school use and community bookings.

The facilities inside the centre have also been given a face lift ready for the new term, while new LED lighting on the 3G pitches and tennis courts will improve visibility for players as the evenings get darker.

Centre manager Josh Lyon said: “Everything’s looking fantastic – really fresh and inviting for both the students and the sports centre users from the community.

“We’ve got plenty of our existing users booked back in for our new booking year and we’ve had a lot of enquiries from new people, too, which is great.

“There are still slots available for anyone who wants to use our pitches and courts for anything from casual squash games to 5-a-side football matches.